this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2023
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Houseplants

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

I have a fungus gnat problem with my houseplants, I've kept them relatively under control using Mosquito Dunks in my watering can since August and some yellow sticky traps but I can't seem to eradicate them. I was considering buying nematode pot poppers but I've never used them before so I was wondering if anyone had any tips for application. All my plants are still relatively small so I don't have many large pots for any of them (most are between 4-10").

Any and all recommendations welcome, having pests is really taking all the joy out of having plants. I'm in Canada so a lot of pesticides aren't available to me.

UPDATE: I figured I'd update this post incase someone comes looking for solutions and sees this. I ended up going with a top layer of silica sand (2-4 mm in size) on all of my pots. I continued with the BTI water, let my plants completely dry out between waterings, and bottom-watered most of my plants. I haven't seen a fungus gnat in about 2 weeks so I think I have been successful in eradicating them. Will update again if this changes.

Update 2: I take back the update, they're still here... I'm so over the freaking gnats.

Update 3: Just updating this post in case someone stumbles across it looking for answers. What worked for me was switching most of my plants to semi-hydro and I now have a Pinguicula Morensis that eats any stragglers that come in with any new plants. The plants that are still in soil are watered so rarely that the gnats are not really an issue.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Ugh, bane of my life! I found diluted hydrogen peroxide worked, though you need to make sure you've got good drainage because after killing everything it leaves the soil very damp which is ideal for any survivors. Quarantining the infested plants in a separate room and not watering them helped, though this was with cacti so they managed to survive the drought!